News Release

Lowering of I-90 Dresbach Bridge span scheduled for Tuesday, May 24

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Construction crews are scheduled on Tuesday, May 24 to lower a 1.2-million-pound steel span of the old Interstate 90 Dresbach bridge to a barge in the Mississippi River, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The lowering of the span is expected to begin at 5 a.m., Tuesday and wrap up by 5 a.m., Wednesday, May 25. Traffic on the river’s navigational channel west of La Crosse, Wisconsin, will be closed for safety during this lowering of the span.
A frame lowering system will lower the large beams to a barge below. The frame uses jacks to lower the bridge 30 inches each 15 minutes. It will lower the bridge approximately 70 feet to the barge below. The span will then be transported to shore by barge and taken apart.

Motorist traffic is not expected to be affected by the demolition efforts at this stage.
The Dresbach Bridge project is a cooperative effort between the Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation. The project includes constructing a new I-90 crossing over the Mississippi River and reconstructing the Highway 61/14 and the I-90 interchange.

The $187.5 million project began in late 2012 and will be completed this fall.

MnDOT urges motorists to always be attentive, drive with caution, slow down in work zones and never enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.